China posts new record in cleantech investments

But world investment in clean energy drop 11% in 2012.

A recent study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that world investments in alternative energy projects came to US$269 billion, making it the clean energy sector's second most successful year

In 2012, China set a new record in cleantech investments, adding 20% to reach US$67.7 billion. The report also predicted that emerging markets such as China were likely to play a key role in the continued expansion of the global clean energy sector.

The data also suggests that investment is broadening rapidly in established markets such as Europe, the US and China, to new ones in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Oceania.

BNEF said that it warned at the start of last year that investment in 2012 was likely to fall below 2011 levels, but rumors of the death of clean energy investment have been greatly exaggerated.

It noted that the most striking aspect of these figures is that the decline was not bigger considering the fierce headwinds the clean energy sector faced in 2012 as a result of policy uncertainty, the ongoing European fiscal crisis, and continuing sharp falls in technology costs.